Envelope-fastener strip



Patented July 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT OLGAY, F GLEN ELLYN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO GAW-OHARA.ENVELOPE 00., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ENVELOPE-FASTENER STRIP.

Application filed February 5. 192-3.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT OLGAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Glen Ellyn, in the county of Du Page and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelope-Fastener Strips, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to envelope fasi teners of the type comprising a body adapted to be fastened to an envelope, and a pair of flexible wings adapted to be bent upwardly from the envelope into substantially parallel relation, inserted through an opening in the envelope flap, and then bent down again to fasten the flap.

In fasteners of this general character it is essential that the ends of the wings be smooth and free from burrs, or otherwise the lingers of the users thereof are lacerated in bending the wings; and furthermore, any sharp edges or burrs on the wings are apt to cut and mutilate other pieces of mail matter with which they come in contact. These fasteners have therefore heretofore been inclividually formed, and have been fed by hand, one at a time, to the machines by which the fasteners are affixed to the envelopes.

One of the primary purposes of my present invention is to form such fasteners in a continuousstrip from a'single strip or sheet of metal, the fasteners being so formed that the edges and ends of the wings are smooth and free from burrs, and the body portions of the fasteners are connected together by a short neck of the metal whereby the fasteners are united into a continuous strip, which may be rolled up and fed automatically by a step-by-step motion to the fastener aflixing machine, thereby enabling the speed of such machines to be greatly increased.

Another object of the invention is to so form the fasteners in a continuous strip that they may readily be separated therefrom, one at a time, without leaving any outwardly or upwardly projecting burrs or rough edges, which might be objectionable in the handling of the envelopes for reasons previously mentioned.

Other objects and advantages of this in vention should be appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following description, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Serial No. 617,182.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of a portion of a strip of fasteners embodying my invention;

Fig. is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary View similar to Fig. i on an enlarged scale; and,

Fig. at is a sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings more in detail, it will be observed that each fastener comprises a tubular body portion 5 adapted to be inserted through an envelope or other article to which the fastener is to be attached, and upset or riveted at its lower end to securely attach the fastener to the article. The upper end of the body is provided with a circumferential flange 6 from which projects laterally in opposite directions a pair of fastening wings 7 formed so that their ends and edges are smooth and free from burrs. The material from which the fasteners are made possesses sufiicient flexibility to permit the wings to be readily bent upwardly for insertion through an opening in the envelope flap, and then bent downwardly again to secure this flap in closed position.

These fasteners are connected together to form an integral continuous stri by means of small necks 8 of sheet metal, Joining adjacent flanges 6 in a plane substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the wings 7. A continuous strip of fasteners is thereby provided which may be rolled up, if desired, for convenience in handling, and may be fed into an affixing machine by a step-by-step motion, which machine is adapted to sever the fasteners one at a time from the strip and apply them to the envelopes. The operation of separating the fasteners from the strip involves a downward move ment of the fastener to be separated, relatively to the strip, and this movement results in breaking or severing the flange of one fastener from its connecting neck 8 closely adj acent the perimeter of the flange, so that no rough outwardly protruding projection is left, and at the same time the neck itself which is left attached to the fastener is bent downwardly, as indicated at 9, Fig. 4:. Upon the application of this next succeeding fastener to an envelope or the like, this downwardly projecting neck or prong is pressed tightly against or even into the surface of the paper so that no rough upwardly projecting burrs or edges are left exposed.

It Will be apparent, therefore, that I have provided an integral strip of fasteners, which can be readily manufactured, and that such strip may be readily and conveniently handled and fed to an a-flixing machine. Furthermore, the fasteners themselves present a smooth periphery which will not injure either the fingers of the users of the envelope or pieces of mail matter with which they may come in contact. The structural details of the invention shown and described may obviously'be'varied Within considerable limits.

I claim:

An integral strip of envelope fasteners comprising a series of tubular bodies adapted tobe individually attached to envelopes,

each body being provided at one end with a circumferential flange extended laterally at opposite sides to provide integral, pliant, smooth edged fastening Wings adapted to be disposed in parallelism for insertion through the opening of an envelope flap, adjacent fasteners in said strip being connected togetherby necks integral With and extending from said flanges at right angles to the longitudinal axes of said Wings to thereby provide a continuous flexible strip of fasteners in Which said wingsprojec't laterally in both directions from the longitudinalaxis of said strip, said strip being adapted to be'rolled up 'on'a'spool or the like for feeding'jpiirposes.

/ ALBERT oLeaY. 

